She's Not Made of Glass
by therealmnemo
Summary: A short continuation of A Surprise in the Snow, following Hawke and Fenris as they acclimate to life with their new daughter. Just a little slice of home life, and trying to figure out how to handle their little bird's training.


"Can I put a light up, Da?"

Fenris opened his eyes and looked down his nose at his child's hesitant face. He had fallen asleep while Beth practiced reading from some book on magic. When they returned to Kirkwall, Hawke spent their first week helping her control her emotion-driven outbursts of magic, and these books were Fenris's way of helping.

His eyes took a moment to adjust to the dying light in the room. How long was I sleeping?

"Of course, little one." He leaned his head forward slightly to place a small kiss on the crown of her head and lifted his arms up from around her so that she could cast properly.

Beth sat up in his lap and brought her hands up close to her face. She practiced this spell every night, always asking Fenris first if she could. Her little elven nose scrunched up in concentration and her golden eyes narrowed, causing Fenris to stifle a small chuckle. His interruption earned him an eye roll and an exasperated 'Da'. When she returned to her task, a small glowing light blinked into existence into the space between her palms. She whispered to it, making it grow, finally lifting it towards the ceiling to hang on some invisible hook from the Fade.

The look on her face, the awe that she displayed any time her magic went right, has become the highlight of his days. He followed her gaze to the light and continued to look across the room. The chair they sat in just one of the many changes they made to the Estate upon their return. I must admit, I miss the mabari lounging in front of the fire. Maybe this Spring…

A small grumble brought him back to the present. Beth giggled as she closed the book she was reading. She poked at the stomach that had given off the offending growl. "Can I help with the soup?" she asked with a grin. As Fenris mulled it over she started kicking her feet excitedly, grasping her book tightly. "Pleeease, Da?"

Fenris knew that Hawke would be back from the Alienage soon enough, and the man had an appetite that rivaled a bear. Between the two of them, the soup would be almost finished when he returned. He grasped Beth under her arms and lifted her onto his shoulders as he stood up. "Yes, little bird. I'll need your help." Once settled on his shoulders, she wrapped one arm around his chin. The other beckoned the small mage light to follow.

Beth loved riding around the house on Fenris's shoulders. She was only allowed to do it when Hawke wasn't home. She wasn't sure why, since it was Hawke who took to doing it originally. It started with squealing delight with Hawke bounding around the Estate and ended with her knocking her forehead off the chandelier. She spent the better part of the night in her room trying to will healing magic over a bandage covering the small wound. In the next room the two men were arguing, Fenris yelling 'reckless mage' a few times, Hawke explaining that it was just an accident. A week later, when Hawke was out with Carver, Fenris picked her up and let her read a book over his head while he cooked dinner. She didn't question it, she was too excited to feel like she was flying again. Ever since then, Fenris took to calling her 'little bird'.

Fenris walked through the kitchen, setting root vegetables on the table to cut and hanging a pot over the cooking fire. Beth moved her light so that it illuminated the whole room. It was at this moment, when her heels tapped a rhythm on Fenris's chest and she leaned over to rest her head on his own, she heard the door open to the kitchen. Fenris froze like a stone beneath her. She whispered in his ear, "Aww, Da.. you're gonna be in trouble."

She turned on Fenris's shoulders to greet Hawke, putting on her cutest grin. "Papa! Da is letting me help cook the soup!"

When Hawke didn't immediately tease her, she started to worry. He seemed tired, and the look he was sharing with Fenris was not one with which she was familiar. She didn't realize she was frowning until Hawke came forward to pick her up off of Fenris's shoulders.

"You're not doing much cooking way up there, Beth. I think you'll reach everything better with both feet on the floor." He set her on the ground and pinched her chin. "Come on now, poppet, smile for me." She grinned at him and his bearded face smiled back. "There's a girl, let's start chopping some potatos."

Beth crawled up onto a stool next to the table opposite the side where Fenris still stood. She reached out over the pile of potatoes and grabbed one while she watched her fathers both watched her in silence. She picked up the knife that Fenris left on the table and started cutting it into small cubes like uncle Carver showed her last time he visited for dinner. Once she cubed the first potato and reached for another, she heard Fenris let out a breath that indicated he was holding it. She felt her ears flush with embarrassment. "You taught me how to fight, I can cut a potato."

"She's got a point Fenris, you were the one who put those sharp daggers in her hands in the first place."

"And it was your infernal 'act first, think later' that caused her magic to manifest in the first place."

Beth stopped cutting and put her hands in her lap, trying to be as small as possible. They were going to argue again. Fenris's marking were flaring and both men were nose to nose leaning over the table. When she lifted a hand to pick at a splinter on the edge of the table, two sets of eyes followed. Hawke reached out to pat her on the head. "You keep cutting the potatoes Beth, we're going to go talk for a little bit." She nodded and resumed chopping while both men retreated to the den.

The door had barely closed when she could hear Hawke's voice bellowing, interrupted by Fenris's own booming voice. When this happened, Beth normally found something to read, or grabbed the lute from the den and played. This time she was stuck in the kitchen and her pile of potatoes slowly grew into a mound of cubes as she did her best not to eavesdrop.

"I come home from a hell of a day in the Alienage, and I come home to find you putting her in the same 'danger' you so eloquently accused me of! We have to be on the same page here, she's a child and if she's going to stay we need to be consistent for her."

"She was sad, and I would never let her fall. She needs us to be supportive and keep her out of harm."

"But she could still fall Fenris! We can do everything possible to keep her in some small protected bubble and she'll still manage to get hurt. She's as durable as any of the children running through Lowtown, she's not going to shatter."

"You're a fool to think that, she's an alchemist's flask ready to break if we aren't careful."

Beth was off her stool and reaching for the pots of spiced on the small table in the corner of the room when she froze. She wondered why Fenris had stopped teaching her how to fight after Hawke found them; why she only practiced practical magic with Hawke and Merrill but Fenris only let her read.

"Fenris, the circles are gone. She's being raised by people who have an understanding of magic, who understand the boundaries and when it's truly necessary. There is nothing, no one here that would change that. Even Merrill stopped using blood magic. You have to let these prejudices go if you intend to keep her here."

A spice jar dropped and shattered to the ground. Beth quickly swooped down to pick up the pieces, cutting a finger in the process. The combination of the loud squeak and shattering pottery caused the conversation in the next room to pause. She quickly brought the finger to her mouth, trying to stifle another cry.

"Beth, are you alright?" Fenris's voice came through the door loudly.

"I'm fine, Da. Just dropped a spice pot, I'm cleaning it up."

She waited for their voices to continue in whisper as she cleaned up the pot. When all the shards were off the floor and in a bin, she stared intently at the small wound on her finger. Just as she had with her forehead weeks before, she tried to will healing magic into it. The moment she did, the door opened.

Hawke shook his head when Fenris dashed back into the kitchen. The moment he felt Beth pull from the fade, Fenris's markings lit up again and caused him to find out what happened. He followed close behind to find Fenris curled around her and looking at the cut on her finger. Hawke joined the two by kneeling in front of her and taking her hand.

"Beth, honey, you can't try to use healing magic unless you're taught how. You could end up harming yourself by accident." He concentrated on the small cut and pushed his mana into a small healing aura.

"I want to learn Papa, I want to be able to help." She felt the tips of her ears warm once again. "I also want to practice with my daggers again." She turned to look at Fenris, who had the look of a man whose secret had just been found out.

Hawke laughed at her boldness, realizing she must have heard every word they exchanged.

"You're not going to send me away are you?" Her voice barely audible, question clearly directed at Fenris.

He watched Fenris pale, his eyes wide and mouth agape, clearly unable to find the words to answer her. Finally, his lips pressed together. "No! No, little bird. You are mine," he looked back at Hawke, "Ours. You are our daughter and we will never send you away."

Hawke felt the pressure behind his eyes as Beth wrapped her arms around Fenris's neck, clearly crying into his shoulder. Fenris's glassy eyes held his own.

"I think perhaps we should ask some friends to come help with your training, poppet. I'm going to have Varric send out a couple of messages to get us some new visitors here in Kirkwall." He grinned when he saw Fenris narrow his eyes.

"What?! I think it'll be best if Beth isn't with one of us every waking moment of the day, and I know just the mage and pirate to help her continue her studies."

"You know damn well, what. If you're suggesting who you better not be suggesting, I'm going to insist on being with her every waking hour of the day."

Beth released Fenris and turned to throw herself arms around Hawke's waist. "Papa, am I going to meet Aunt Izzie?"

Hawke chuckled as he put an arm around her shoulder, "Only if we can drag her away from the sea, and if she can find a certain feathered mage on her way back."

The sound of potatoes dropping into a pot turned their attentions to Fenris, who started adding the spices that weren't spilled across the floor. "Fine, but someone is supervising Isabela at all times."

Hawke stifled another laugh and picked Beth up and put her on his shoulders and ran for the stairs. "Let's fly, little bird!"

"HAWKE!"


End file.
